Bachmann bows out after Iowa, McCain backs Romney

Michele Bachmann dropped out of the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination this morning as former candidate John McCain threw his weight behind Iowa caucus winner Mitt Romney.

The Iowa-born congresswoman finished last in yesterday's poll, which Mr Romney won by just eight votes from Rick Santorum.

Ms Bachmann, an early favourite of the Tea Party, received only 5 per cent of the vote.

"Last night the people of Iowa spoke with a very clear voice and so I have decided to stand aside... I will not be continuing in this race for the presidency," she told a news conference in Des Moines.

She called on Republicans to unite behind the eventual Republican presidential nominee to roll back Democratic president Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul and "take back our country."

"I believe that we must rally around the person that our country and our party and our people select to be that standard bearer," she said.

Before departing Ms Bachmann ignored shouted questions from reporters on whom she would endorse.

And campaign spokeswoman Alice Stewart said the Minnesota congresswoman "will take time and visit with them [Republican candidates] and speak with them, but there had "been no decision on that yet".

As Ms Bachmann was announcing her departure, Mr Romney's campaign received a boost from former rival and Republican senator John McCain.

"I'm really here for one reason and one reason only, and that is to make sure that we make Mitt Romney the next president of the United States of America," the lawmaker from Arizona told cheering supporters in a high school gymnasium in New Hampshire.

Mr Santorum, Ms Bachmann and Texas governor Rick Perry have been courting support from evangelical Christians.

If a significant number of evangelicals eventually rally behind Mr Santorum, his long-shot campaign could receive a major boost.

Ms Bachmann was once a leading light for evangelical voters in Iowa, but her dismal performance in Tuesday's first contest to pick a candidate to challenge Mr Obama raised the already colossal odds against her campaign.

She shot to the top of polls in August after winning the Ames Straw Poll in Iowa, but later suffered from staff departures and fundraising troubles. By the end of December, her popularity had dwindled in the state.

Mr Santorum, a former US senator from Pennsylvania, and Ron Paul, a Texas congressman with libertarian views, garnered a larger percentage of the crucial conservative vote and are now the leading alternatives to front-runner Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, as the candidates prepare for the next voting contest in New Hampshire on January 10.

You can track the caucus results using the Google map and Twitter list below.